The Wall
by ImaTVJunkie
Summary: Just a little oneshot, taking place after Booth turned down Brennan's' proposal


Booth sat, head in hands. A lump in his throat threatening to close off his air supply. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly. Replaying that moment over and over.

Her face. Eyes staring, then turning away from him, blinking away tears. He saw it all.

_I'm impressed that you finally see things from my perspective_

He knew it was a lie. She was hurting. He had hurt her.

It was the last thing he wanted to do. He had no choice. _Had he a choice? _No. He didn't. There was too much at stake. But it didn't change the fact that he had hurt her. And he couldn't tell her why.

He pushed his hands through his hair. Pulling at it. He ground his fists into his eye sockets. He wanted to punch himself in the face.

_What do I do now? Where do we go from here? God, Please. I need an answer. Help. Something. _

Finally he dropped his hands. Opened his eyes and stood up. He turned out the lights and headed up the stairs to bed. He hesitated outside the door. _What if she doesn't want me in there? Maybe I should just sleep in Parkers room. _He pushed open the door.

He could see her lying in the bed. Her back facing him. She wasn't moving. He stepped towards the bed and stood stripping off his jeans. He slipped between the sheets and lay down facing her back. "Bones?" No response. "Temperance?" Nothing. A seemingly impenetrable wall between them.

Booth sighed and rolled over facing the opposite way. His body tense as he tried not to move too much. Not wanting to draw attention to himself in the bed. He swallowed down his misery and closed his eyes, Pelants laughing face taunting him. The distance between them far greater than the gap between their bodies. He opened his eyes and stared at the wall. Sleep eluding him.

She opened her eyes and stared at the wall. She couldn't answer him. If she spoke, she would cry. And she was not going to cry. He was right of course. She was stupid to have asked at this time. It was an emotional reflex to the stress caused by the case. _So why does it hurt so much? _She closed her eyes and tried to will herself to sleep.

* * *

The buzzing of the alarm clock forcing Booth to open his eyes. He reached out and fumbled around for the on/off button. He yawned and stretched and rolled over, reaching out for her. The bed was empty. He pushed himself up onto his elbow and lay his hand on her pillow. Tracing the outline of her head. He picked up a strand of her hair and wound it around his finger. The memory of last night flooding his thoughts. He felt the lump return to his throat.

He got out of the bed and headed for the shower to get ready for work.

* * *

The wall was still standing after a week. He had spent much of his time trying to think of ways to break through. It was proving to be quite impenetrable. She was hidden from him behind it. They ate together, slept in the same bed together. Played with Christine together. But the wall stood tall and strong between them the entire time. He stood in the shower, the water pounding across his back. Eyes closed.

_I have to try to tell her._ He turned and looked around as if he half expected to see Pelant standing behind him, listening to him. _I'm done doing it your way_ Booth thought to himself. _I can't let you ruin the best thing I've ever had. I won't._

He padded down the stairs and peeked around the corner. He could see her sitting at the dining table, feeding Christine. The radio was on and she was listening to the news. They usually sat and drank their coffee together, he would make breakfast and they listened to the news in the mornings.

For a week, she had gone about their daily routine by herself. The wall, excluding him.

He took a deep breath and walked to the kitchen, opening his mouth to say good morning as he walked past her, but she kept her face hidden from him behind the veil of her hair. He closed his mouth, the words stuck in his throat and walked into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. Her mug was sitting next to the coffeemaker. He poured two cups and picked up both mugs and carried them to the dining table. He placed hers on the table and gently pushed it towards the wall. He then retreated to the far end of the table and sat down.

"How did you sleep?" he asked quietly.

"Fine" Her reply muffled by the wall.

"Do you want me to take Christine to day care today?" he asked.

"I think I'd prefer to do it"

He stared at the wall. It was going to take a lot to break it down.

"OK" he replied.

She picked Christine up out of her highchair and hesitated, "Have a good day" she said stiffly without looking at him. She turned and picked up Christine's day bag and walked to the door.

"See you tonight?" he called out, hoping she could hear him through the wall.

She flicked her eyes up, looking at him as though he was miles away "Of course" she replied, then turned and walked out the door leaving him staring at the wall.

* * *

Temperance had spent most of the week distracted. She was replaying that day over and over. She had been so excited. Overly so. He had said yes. They were going to get married. She had been looking at a silly wedding magazine. She finally realised she had failed to pay attention to him. Thinking back, he was different to how he was earlier in the day. He was beaten down. Quiet. He seemed almost nervous. Distracted. He had been unable to look her in the eye. She had been so caught up in her own emotions, she had failed to see his.

Something was dreadfully wrong. She could see that now. She had taken time to think. _See_. Booth had always said that he would wait for her to ask him. And she had. And he had said yes. She knew Booth meant it. He wanted nothing more than to marry her. He had told her many times. Something must have happened to make him change his mind so quickly. _But what? _

_Pelant_. The name echoed through her mind. Of course! It had to be Pelant. But how? Why? Why didn't I think of this before? _Because you were hurt and your pride was damaged. Your stupid pride. You couldn't see that Booth was hurting. Hiding something. All you could think about was you. _her inner voice answered her own question.

She replayed everything over and over in her head. The only thing that didn't make sense, and was a blank for her was that phone call. The one he said was from his mother. Thinking back, his mood had changed when he took that call. He had walked away to take the call. _Why?_ Why hadn't he just sat there and talked to her. After that call he had become quiet, reserved. He was trying to enjoy the day with her and Christine, but something had shifted in him. That call must have been Pelant. _It had to have been! But why wouldn't he have told her?_

It all started to make sense. The wall shuddered.

* * *

Brennan unlocked the front door and pushed it open. She set Christine down and watched as she toddled over to her toy box and sat down and began to pull everything out of it. She smiled at her daughter. Booth's daughter. She sighed and felt the familiar prick at the back of her eyes. Shaking her head, she turned and closed and locked the door.

She walked towards the kitchen, trying to get her brain into dinner mode. She would make a quick pasta, she decided. Booth's favourite. She stopped as a parcel on the dining table caught her eye.

She walked over and let her hand trail over the box. It was small, wrapped with a navy ribbon. She wanted to just ignore it and leave it. But her curiosity got the better of her. She picked it up and turned it over in her hands_. _ On the bottom of the box was a handwritten note. _What goes on between us is ours. I want the meatloaf. I want it WITH the egg._ The wall weakened.

She pulled at the ribbon and it slipped off the box. Lifting the lid off it and peeking inside, she felt her throat constrict and a sob escaped her. It was two tiny pigs. She lifted one out of the box and stared at him. Jasper. She smiled, just as she had the night he had first given Jasper to her. She looked at the second pig and felt her heart constrict, and the wall cracked a little more.

Brennan busied herself making dinner, feeding Christine and taking her up to bed. As she tucked her into her cot she glanced over and noticed something on the chest of drawers. She kissed Christine and walked towards the chest. She started smiling. There, on the top sat Smurfette and Enamoured Smurf, side by side. The wall faltered.

She dimmed the light in the nursery and walked back down to the living room. He was waiting for her. Sitting on the couch, hunched over a candle. He looked up when he heard her coming.

Brennan hesitated and stared at him. "When did you?" "While you were upstairs" he answered. He held up a pencil and paper. "I'm writing down a date." he said. She smiled and walked towards him, a trail of bricks falling and landing behind her. "Oh?" she said. She sat beside him and picked up a pencil "Shall I write one too?" she said. He nodded his head and handed her a piece of paper. "Yes, but I'm going to burn mine first." he said. She frowned and watched him hold the paper over the flame. "But I thought we were supposed to" her voice trailed off as she watched the paper. It was changing, something was appearing on the paper as he held it over the flame. _It wasn't a date_. Her mouth opened as it caught alight and burned bright for a moment until he dropped it into the ice bucket. He stared at her. Willing her to understand the message. To understand why.

She stared into his eyes and then looked down at her piece of paper and wrote "Yes" and held it over the flame. Booth looked at the paper as it grabbed the flame from the candle. He closed his eyes and leaned back on the couch. Brennan dropped the burning slip of paper in the ice bucket and lay back next to him and they watched the paper slips burn. He lifted his arm and knocked the last remainder of the wall to the floor as she leaned into him and he wrapped his arm around her.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you" he whispered.

"Me too. But now I understand why" she whispered back.

Neither of them looking at each other, just watching the dying glow of the burning paper.

It was going to be fine. _He loves me. He wants me. And I want him. Pelant really has underestimated us this time _ she thought. She closed her eyes and saw that slip of paper, its lemon juice message clear as a bell before it caught fire

_We get Pelant first_

Bones smiled to herself and snuggled against him. He pulled her tightly to him, the wall was down at last. "I knew you'd work it out" he said into her hair. She closed her eyes and saw it all in front of her. Everything she ever wanted. And nobody, especially not Pelant was going to stop her having it. They would win.

_Oh yes. Yes indeed._


End file.
